Did you know there are approximately 19,000 man-made objects orbiting Earth that serve no useful purpose? And those are just the objects having a diameter of 10 centimeters (4 inches) or larger. The estimated population of objects between 1 and 10 cm in diameter is closer to 500,000! Now, think about launching new spacecraft or satellite into space without hitting any of these objects and you can appreciate the kind of work Danielle Margiotta does as an engineer for NASA. Join us at noon EST onDec. 13, 2011, to ask Danielle questions about the ins and outs of contamination engineering, or how to help a spacecraft and satellites navigate and manage their inevitable encounters with space junk.

As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, the NASA Explorer Schools project and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute live professional development Web seminar for educators on Dec. 13, 2011, at 6:30 p.m. EST. The student activity featured in this seminar demonstrates the effects of radiation on living organisms. Participants will learn how sun-screening materials protect live yeast cells from harmful ultraviolet, or UV, radiation and countermeasures for UV radiation and discuss phenotypic changes in yeast as a result of radiation damage. Participants will learn how different sun protection factors, brands or even sunglasses may be used to expand the range of items tested in this lab. See how you can bring a real-world connection between science and education to your students.For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar11.aspx .

Email any questions about this opportunity to NASA-Explorer-Schools@mail.nasa.gov. ________________________________________________________________Educator Resource Showcase Webcast — Spaced Out SportsJoin hosts Kelly Witherspoon and Cheryl Guilbeau from NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi for an hourlong, free webcast on Dec. 14, 2011, at 3 p.m. EST. This webcast will focus on Newton’s Laws of Motion and their effects on objects on Earth and in space.

If you have any questions about the webcast, please email them to Renee Elias at RElias@lcjvs.net.________________________________________________________________DEADLINE EXTENDED: YouTube Space Lab Competition

YouTube Space Labis a worldwide educational initiative that challenges 14-18 year-old students to design a science experiment that can be performed in space. The two winning experiments will be conducted aboard the International Space Station, or ISS, and live streamed on YouTube.

Students in two age categories, 14-16 years old and 17-18 years old, either alone or in groups of up to three, may submit a YouTube video describing their experiment to YouTube.com/SpaceLab.

The deadline for submissions has been extended to Dec. 14, 2011.________________________________________________________________Electrolysis of Water: Math and Science @ Work — A Breath of Fresh Air Web Seminar

As part of a series of electronic professional development experiences for educators, NASA Explorer Schools and the National Science Teachers Association are hosting a 90-minute live professional development Web seminar for educators on Dec. 15, 2011, at 3 p.m. EST. Learn how to implement a chemistry lab activity called “A Breath of Fresh Air.” During the activity, students create their own electrolysis apparatus to generate oxygen and use a Texas Instruments TI-Nspire calculator to collect data. Note: You do not need to have a TI-Nspire calculator during this professional development.For more information and to register online, visit http://learningcenter.nsta.org/products/symposia_seminars/NES2/webseminar13.aspx

The National Institutes of Health, or NIH, is making a collection of engaging, inexpensive experiments for K-12 students, and they need your help. Through the Lessons About Bioscience, or LAB, Challenge, NIH is looking for science enthusiasts — students, teachers, parents, scientists and organizations — to submit their best experiments. The experiment should be original, inexpensive, related to health and life science and easily accessible for use in a K-12 classroom.

The deadline to submit experiment ideas is Dec. 15, 2011. Winners will be announced on March 1, 2012. Each winning experiment and submitter’s name and affiliation will be featured online and published in an NIH best-experiments collection, and each winner will receive an exclusive NIH LAB Challenge electronic badge to display online.

NASA has opened registration for the 2011 OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Award Contest. Featuring OPTIMUS PRIME, the leader of the popular TRANSFORMERS brand, the contest highlights spinoffs from NASA technologies that are used on Earth. The goal is to help students understand the benefits of NASA technology to their daily lives. Last year’s contest was open to students in grades 3-8 and resulted in 76 video submissions from over 190 students in 31 states.

For 2011, the OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Award Contest has been expanded to include students in grades 3-12. Each student, or group of students, will submit a three- to five-minute video on a selected NASA spinoff technology listed in NASA’s 2010 “Spinoff” publication. Videos must demonstrate an understanding of the NASA spinoff technology and the associated NASA mission, as well as the commercial application and public benefit associated with the spinoff technology.

Participants must register for the contest by Jan. 3, 2012. Video entries are due Jan. 17, 2012.

Video entries will be posted on the NASA YouTube channel, and the public will be responsible for the first round of judging. The top five submissions from each of the three grade groups (Elementary [3rd-5th], Middle [6th-8th] and High School [9th-12th]) will advance for final judging. A NASA panel will select a winning entry from each group. Among other prizes, a crystal OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Award Trophy will be given to winners at a special awards ceremony being held in Florida in April 2012. The innovators associated with the NASA technology highlighted in the winning videos also will receive trophies, as will their commercial partners.

Host a Real Time Conversation With Crewmembers Onboard the International Space Station

NASA is now accepting proposals from U.S. schools, museums, science centers and community youth organizations to host an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station, or ARISS, contact between July 15, 2012, and Jan. 15, 2013. To maximize these radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into a well-developed education plan. Proposals are due Jan. 30, 2012.

Using amateur radio, students can ask astronauts questions about life in space and other space-related topics. Students fully engage in the ARISS contact by helping set up an amateur radio ground station at the school and then using that station to talk directly with a crew member on the International Space Station for approximately 10 minutes. The technology is easier to acquire than ever before. ARISS has a network of mentors to help you obtain the technology required to host this once in a lifetime opportunity for your students.

Interested parties should contact Teaching From Space, a NASA Education office, to obtain complete information including how the technology works, what is expected of the host organization and how to obtain the proposal/application form by sending an email to JSC-TFS-ARISS@mail.nasa.gov or by calling 281-244-1919.

________________________________________________________________New Content on NASA’s Math and Science @ Work Website

NASA’s Math and Science @ Work project has recently added new education content to its website.

This project provides activities teachers can download for use in high school advanced-placement mathematics and science courses. There are now more than 30 activities that will engage students in physics, chemistry, biology, calculus and statistics while giving them insight into NASA’s programs, projects and careers.

Get current information about the project and interact with the Math and Science @ Work team by becoming a fan on Facebook. www.facebook.com/mathandscienceatwork.________________________________________________________________